Beckett suddenly sat up in bed, her hair clinging to her damp skin. She was shuddering, gulping in huge breaths of air. She kept telling herself that it was a dream; purely a game of her imagination. Nothing more that her subconscious and it's strangely disturbing thoughts.

I've got to call Castle.

She whipped the sheets off her legs and stumbled over to the phone, checking to make sure that her keys weren't in the fish tank. Everything seemed to be where it was supposed to be, and the familiar sound of traffic helped Beckett's breathing return to normal. She punched in the number of Castles' mobile, and waited for the familiar voice.

"Beckett? What? I thought you weren't talking to me?" Castle stammered.

Beckett sighed, "I wasn't. Was not, but I am now. I just had the weirdest dream and it's just turning my world upside down."

"Whoa, wait a minute. You're scared?"

"Didn't say I was scared, Castle, just …bothered." Beckett snapped.

"I see why this couldn't wait two hours…"

"Castle. Tell me honestly. What were you doing with the CIA?"

"Come on, Beckett, this isn't the right time to talk about it. How about we meet at Starbucks for coffee in the morning and we'll talk it over then?"

"Fine." She hung up, and curled up on the couch. It was too late to go back to sleep, but too early to get up and get dressed. She decided to have a hot shower, hoping that the scented soaps would clear her head.

o.o.o.o.

Beckett was staring at the windows of Starbucks when Castle walked in, his usual swagger reduced to a normal walk.

"Morning, Castle."

Castle slid into the Booth, sitting opposite Beckett and sat there, staring into her eyes.

"So, you wanted to talk about me."

"You could put it that way," she hesitated, then smiled.

"Well, I suppose you do deserve the right to know. Although it's nothing major, I'm not some serial killer or something."

She laughed, "Wreck my fun, why don't you?"

Castle hesitated. Was she feeling alright, or was this some mask that she was holding up?

"Well…," he paused, "They called me. They knew that I was working with NYPD on a series of cases and they wanted to know how you work on things."

"Oh. That's all?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I can feel that you were hoping I'd done something bad enough so you could slap me."

"I'd slap you anyway, Castle, doesn't matter if you did something or not."

Castle chuckled, snorting into his luke warm coffee.

"I'm really sorry that I lost it Cas-"

"Beckett, it's fine. You had every reason to think what you thought."

"How can I make it up to you?"

"You can come round my house and save me from the horrors of Martha's stories." At this comment, Beckett laughed loudly, causing several people to turn around to watch.

"I never thought I would say this, but I will. Sure, I'll come round."

"Sure. Pick you up at 7?"

"Is this a date in disguise?"

"If you want it to be." Castle grinned, and Beckett drained her coffee.

"Come on, we've got to go to work."

"Whoa, I've got a job again?"

"You never didn't have a job, Castle."

o.o.o.o

"What about this one?" Beckett held her pink, knee-high dress in front of her body.

Lanie winched. "No way."

"What about this one?"

"Whoo, that's a beauty. Black, slim, sexy and stylish. Why didn't we start with this one?"

Beckett giggled, "They say leaving the best til last is the way to do it."

She pulled on the dress carefully, her slim figure being boasted by the close fitting dress. Castle was impatiently waiting outside in the car, and had been leaning on the horn continually for the past 5 minutes. Beckett wasn't surprised when she left her house that there were people standing around glaring at the car.

"Impatient, much?"

Castle smirked. "Late, much? It's quarter to eight!"

"No hurry, is there?"

"Martha will be thinking I've been kidnapped, or robbed, or murdered…the list goes on forever."

Beckett smiled, "What's with the flashy car?" The SUV pulled into traffic almost easily, and they coasted down the roads to Castle's apartment.

"Well, I'm in the crime industry. Better safe than sorry."

"Right…"

They sat in silence as traffic started to bank up, and a Beckett turned to Castle.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you. It's a girl/guy kind of thing."

Castle turned to look at her with an expression of surprise.

"Alrighty, tell me."

"Well, I like this guy, and I think he likes me. Trouble is, we've been through some pretty bad ups and downs over the time that I've known him, and I don't know how to tell him that I like him."

Beckett felt surprised as she saw a flicker of hurt cross Castle's face. His normal grin returned, "Okay, call the news crew. You just told me something about your private life?" Castle chuckled. "If you're serious about this guy, and you think that you'd get on well together, my advice would be go for it."

"Really?"

"Truly."

"Alright. Castle, I wasn't talking about someone else."

"Who were you talking about then?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes. Castle, I'm serious. I didn't think it was possible, but I think I'm in love. And with a guy I never thought I would ever be in love with."

Castle stopped the car, and horns started to sound behind them.

"I love you, Castle."

-----

THE END.